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Consumers switching cars more often than mattresses

How often do you change your car? And how often do you change your mattress?

While these might sound like two strange questions to ask together, the latest data produced by automotive experts, cap hpi, has revealed that consumers change their car more regularly than they change their mattress and bedding.

Thanks to the increase in financing options, motorists own cars for a much shorter period of time than they did just a few years ago. This has led to behaviour where they are more likely to change their car more often than they change their mobile phone or bedding.

To ensure a good and healthy night’s sleep, experts advise changing your mattress every seven to eight years, however, many consumers don’t stick to this guideline.

The following information may make you change your mind on that, though, as a seven-year-old mattress plays host to a considerable amount of nastiness as a result of the average adult losing 285ml of fluid each night and shedding 454g of dead skin cells every year.

Cap hpi’s data suggests some car manufacturers now see average returns of vehicles in 24 months, as well as an increasing number of 18-month leases available in the market.

This means that some motorists are changing their car more often than their mobile, as the average UK mobile contract lasts between 18-24 months.

Retail and consumer specialist at cap hpi, Philip Nothard, said: “What we are seeing is the ‘iphonification’ of the car industry as consumers increasingly pay to drive rather than pay to own their vehicles.

“It’s the same model as the mobile phone industry where people are comfortable paying a monthly fee – only they are now doing this with their vehicles as well as their mobiles.”

So what’s fuelling this behaviour? The growing popularity of personal contract purchase (PCP) and other finance options are having an impact on the motor industry and consumer behaviour. The trend of turning from ownership to usership is also evident in the increase of personal contract hire (PCH). According to cap hpi, around 80% of new car sales are on finance.

Nothard continued: “Not so long ago it was fairly common for motorists to have their cars for a minimum for five years or longer but that has now changed dramatically and dropped to just two years for millions of motorists.”

“As PCP becomes more popular and accessible in the used market, motor dealers expect its use to double in the future so we’re going to see people changing their cars with increasing regularity.”